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Ubisoft wants to game your lazy eye into shape

Say goodbye to the eye patch - the French software firm reckons its new game can help to fix the condition

04 March 2015/18:22IST

Anyone suffering from Amblyopia - otherwise known as lazy eye - could soon have a new treatment option.

A far cry from, er, Far Cry, Ubisoft is working on a tablet game that will help combat the condition using a technique developed by researchers at McGill University in Montreal. The original game developed by the academics was a version of Tetris, but Ubisoft is crafting it into the side-scrolling Dig Rush, which you play while wearing stereoscopic glasses (the red/blue-lensed specs previously of 3D fame).

Players are forced to exercise their weaker eye as some graphics are shown in blue and some in red, at varying levels of contrast. Around 90% of patients who have been tested using the game saw an improvement to their eyesight within weeks of starting to play the game.

It's not as easy as download and go, though, as doctors will need to fine-tune the game's settings as your eyesight improves. Consequently, it's only available via prescription.